How Much YouTube Will Charge For Ad-Free Videos

For many years now, the best part about YouTube, beyond allowing access to bazillions of videos of all subject matter, was that nearly everything was free to watch. Things got a little worse in the recent past as the service made ads an unavoidable part of the vid-watching process, but now there’s a solution by way of the membership plan dubbed YouTube Red. How much will it cost internet hounds to watch Adele videos and plumbing how-to guides? About 10 bucks a month.

Wisely, YouTube isn’t out to break anyone’s bank by giving them access to ad-free videos, and $9.99 is a decent price, especially since the people who are going to shell it out are the ones that are probably more hooked on the website than average viewers. Personally, I don’t use it so much that the ads are the bane of my existence, but I know that’s not the case for everyone.

Of course, the advantages of membership aren’t solely limited to watching the Star Wars: The Force Awakenstrailer for the thousandth time without watching a Cigna commercial first. According to YouTube’s official blog, the app is changing to work so that it will play on your mobile devices even when other apps are opened, which has been one of those frustrating things plaguing it for a while now. What’s more, subscribers will be able to watch videos without an internet connection, which basically means that you could spend your entire day watching YouTube, no matter what else you’re doing or where you’re doing it. Your vacation to Siberia can now be planned with confidence.

And for everyone who enjoys original content, the early part of 2016 will introduce YouTube Red subscribers to members-only original shows and movies, some of which are put together by the website’s most celebrated creators. It’s not clear if this will be like normal TV shows or more of the same kind of content, but either way, it’ll only be available if you’re paying for it.

Check out the ad for it below.

This should put YouTube in more of a direct competition with places like Hulu, which has its own ad-free plan in place, and possibly even Netflix at some point, especially since the latter is raising prices. Now it’s just up to Crackle to follow suit.

U.S. viewers can get access to a free one-month trial of YouTube Red starting on October 28, and the new YouTube Music app will be coming soon.